Victor J. Guarino, 91, died on Aug. 30, 2023 in his Oak Park home surrounded by his family. He grew up in the Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago, graduated from Hirsch High School, and earned both his BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering at IIT. He also completed the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults at the University of Chicago.
After serving in the U.S. Army working in the Ballistic Research Lab at Aberdeen Proving Ground, he worked as a project manager and consultant for Chicago-area companies and developed several industrial patents.
A member and later chairman of Oak Park’s Environmental & Energy Advisory Commission from 1979 to 1987, he earned a Naturalist Certificate from Morton Arboretum and, for more than 30 years, volunteered with his wife Jean for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County as stewards for Thatcher Woods in River Forest.
Upon their retirement in 2022, the Forest Preserve Board of Cook County recognized their service “for having mentored and inspired countless volunteers, and under their leadership the Thatcher Woods area has recovered and thrived through sustainable volunteer effort and public education.”
Victor is survived by Jean (nee Pfeifer) his wife of 60 years, and their five children, Theresa Lipo (Frank), Victor (Nancy), Jean, Mark, and Elizabeth Condon (Sean), as well as 10 grandchildren, Ellen, Grace and Sarah Lipo, Molly and Natalie Guarino, Aidan and Anthony Clark and Sam, Andrew and Elise Condon. He is also survived by his sister, Marilyn Huttel (Larry).
He will lie in state at St. Giles Church, 1045 Colombian, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 2 with a Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 10:30, followed by interment at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.
